Rees is a shareholder with CGA Law Firm and co chairs its Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice on business and commercial litigation. Focusing his practice on the litigation problems of closely-held businesses, Rees is an experienced litigator for commercial businesses representing both plaintiffs and defendants. His experience includes business tort, contract, construction, Uniform Commercial Code, creditors' rights and professional negligence actions involving non-medical professionals.
He also represents locally owned businesses in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters, such as dissenter's rights cases, minority shareholder cases, partnership and corporate dissolution as well as construction litigation and litigation involving negligence by real estate professionals, such as appraisers and architects. In addition, Rees also has defended or brought litigation for local governments and authorities.
In addition, he has experience in legal actions involving environmental issues, equity proceedings, fiduciary litigation, wrongful discharge, estates litigation and has defended lending institutions and trust departments in lender liability cases. While continuing to represent some insurance carriers, Rees has also represented plaintiffs in substantial personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Rees has 30 plus years of experience in litigation. The bulk of his cases have been heard in either the Court of Common Pleas of York County or in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He is familiar with the rules and procedures of those courts; more meaningfully, he has appeared numerous times before judges and juries in York and Harrisburg and understands how local courts and juries work in and react to commercial litigation matters.
Rees' verdicts and settlements include:
- a $1.15 million jury verdict in Lebanon County against a nationally known golf course architect for negligence in connection with the design of a private golf course;
- a judicial award of $2.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages in Berks County in a "minority shareholder freezeout" case;
- a million dollar plus settlement of a minor's claim for ingestion of toxic substances on the family farm;
- and a multi-million dollar private settlement of a wrongful death claim (while the amount of this settlement is confidential, it likely remains the highest wrongful death settlement in the County).
A certified mediator by the Court of Common Pleas of York County and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Rees is regularly selected as a mediator by the judges of the Middle District Court and the Realtors Association of York and Adams County.
Before Rees joined CGA Law Firm, he was a partner at Barley Snyder LLC and chair and co chair of the regional firm's Litigation Department.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- American Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- York County Bar Association
- Master and Executive Committee Member - Herbert B. Cohen Inn of Court
- Board Member - York Symphony Orchestra
- Advisory Board member - York Salvation Army
- Board Member - Bell Socialization Services
- Board Member - ReStor York
- Chairman - Auction Inn
- Board Member - Downtown Club of York
Rees Griffiths
717.848.4900 
717.843.9039
rgriffiths@cgalaw.com
